


Touchdown at Janam

by sinnamon_cookie



Category: Suikoden, Suikoden Series (Video Games), Suikoden Tierkreis
Genre: Gen, slight Minen/Buchse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28790067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinnamon_cookie/pseuds/sinnamon_cookie
Summary: The marksmen from Belfar Agency just arrived at Janam in their mission to retrieve the Chronicle of Fierce Regalia. What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: comrades in arms - Relationship
Kudos: 2





	Touchdown at Janam

Janam’s morning sunlight felt brighter than on any other place across the continent. The fresh morning breeze blew from the sea, accompanied by the crying of the gulls and the sound of the ocean waves. Despite the heat, the town of Salsabil was alive with traders and peddlers as any other day. In fact, they were beaming with joy as the sun provided the energy to open up their markets and mingle. At the dock, colorful boats varied of size were lining and rocking gently, and three unfamiliar visitors – Geshutz, Minen, and Buchse – stepped out from one of the vessels. Their dark cloaks were swaying as they walked down the road.

That was their first time arriving at Salsabil. Buchse immediately looked down to avert the sunlight and Minen squinted. Geschutz, on the other hand, seemed to look more enthusiastic than his subordinates as he inhaled the air exaggeratedly and smiled.

“Finally I’m off that boat! One more hour on it and I’ll be a freaking pudding,” Minen sighed and rubbed her temple to relieve the light headache she’s been feeling ever since her first journey on a ship. “Where’s this ‘Sieg’ guy we’re supposed to meet?”

Geschutz motioned them to step aside near less crowded fruits and vegetables stand. Then, he took a worn-out map from his satchel bag and opened it — his eyes scanning the paper thoroughly.

“The place, it’s – there. Mislato River. West from here. We shall meet with him there in an hour,” Geschutz rolled the map and put it back in. Buchse nodded in compliance.

“Are you kidding me? I thought we’ll meet him _here_ , do _the business_ , and get home straight away!” Minen scoffed. She held the urge to yell at Geschutz, as much as she wanted to, to avoid the commotion. _The business_ , there, was their mission to retrieve the Chronicle of Fierce Regalia. The chronicle was originally belonged to the United Kingdom of Ritterschild, the country in which the three marksmen hailed from until it was stolen by the Magedom of Janam. Now, they were tasked to take it back, in which its possession has apparently – strangely, they also thought – transferred to a young fellow named Sieg, who had no attachment to Janam whatsoever.

Geschutz blinked confusedly. “Huh, haven’t I told you that the rendezvous is held outside the city?”

Minen and Buchse shook their head simultaneously.

“You only told us that we’re going to Salsabil, and you’ll arrange the meeting,” said Buchse with his toneless voice.

“Oh, sorry about that, haha,” he laughed sheepishly. Minen rolled her eyes in disbelief over her captain’s dubious act.

“Well, you see, I’m all for the easy way, too, but we’re exactly in Janam’s territory here, and basically, we’re their enemies. We can’t risk it,” he continued while rubbing his chin. “And, we might have to camp out there, too, if the guy didn’t appear on the time we agreed on.”

Minen pouted. The captain made a good point although she had to disagree with the idea of camping out in the wild with a thin, bed sheet and thin layered tent.

They finally resumed their way to walk out of town. Buchse stared at Minen, who walked in front of him, without saying a word. It has been a habit of his – staring at people as a distraction and to amuse himself – and apparently, his squad members often became the target of his, displeasing if not discomforting, habit. Especially Minen.

“Buchse!” Minen addressed him suddenly, knowing that he has been watching her quietly for a while. “Could you stop staring at me? It gives me shivers.”

Buchse didn’t respond, but a thin smile was formed beneath his dark mask. It was always amusing to tease Minen.

Minen continued to talk to him without turning her head. “Anyway, what do you think? Geschutz’s so terrible, isn’t he, for letting us camping out after all that swaying on the boat!”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind,” he murmured. “It’s not like we can do anything. Captain’s order and all... _Princess._ ”

Upon hearing that, Minen turned her body swiftly and stomped her way in front of Buchse. She stared at him straight in the eyes, blazing with anger. Her hand tightly grabbed a part of Buche’s cloak and pulled his face to her level. She, enormously, hated being called a ‘princess.’

“What did you just call me, boy!?”

Despite the murderous glare, Buchse didn’t seem scared. Instead, he looked the other way, biting his lower lip to refrain himself from grinning. Geschutz who has been hearing their conversation the whole time despite walking in the front, couldn’t contain his amusement and burst out laughing. Minen grunted in frustration and released her grip. It was not the first time her teammates teased her by calling her a ‘princess’ for coming from a respected, noble family in her country. They knew it irritated her so, but they kept doing it anyway. Especially Buchse. He might be quiet as a mouse, but his enjoyment of teasing others was as big as an elephant. Her day, seemingly, couldn’t be getting any better.

“Buchse, I swear if you call me that again ONE MORE TIME—“

Out of the blue, a patrolling guard shouted from the back and stopped them on their track. Geschutz twitched, and Buchse reflexively went for his rifle which was hidden underneath his cloak. Some wandering people stole a brief glance at them curiously. As the guard approached, Minen stepped forward to handle him, but Geschutz moved upfront quicker, signaling her to step back with a wave of his hand and let him deal with the issue.

“Good morning, officer. Is there a problem?” greeted him with a nonchalant smile.

The guard looked at them up and down, curious and suspicious.

“Cloaks are prohibited here,” said the guard firmly. Minen quickly glanced at their surroundings, just realizing that they were the only people there who wore cloaks (dark and dully colored, even, to add. Her red cloak was an exception). “Sorry, but you have to take them off. For security reasons.”

“Oh! Pardon us, sir. You see, we’re not used to the bright sunlight that graces this beautiful town,” Geschutz tried his best to find an excuse. He thought it would be best not to rouse suspicion more than they already did, so he slid the hood off his head, revealing his turban and facial tattoos. Minen and Buchse, thinking about the same thing, followed through.

The guard inspected them carefully. They were an unusual-looking bunch — the older-looking man, Geschutz, had a dark complexion and a thin mustache, the younger man, Buchse, wore a skin-fitted mask, and the petite, grumpy-looking woman, Minen, had a teal, long wavy hair.

“You’re not from around here, aren’t you?” he commented. “What’s your business in Salsabil?”

Unable to contain herself, Minen stepped forward to back Geschutz up. “Excuse me, everyone here is _not_ from around here. This is a harbor town. Use your eyes. It’s not that strange to see random faces around every now and then,” responded her sharply. Buchse nodded in agreement. The guard lifted his eyebrow, undoubtedly feeling offended by Minen’s ferocious answer.

“Shush it,” Geschutz hushed Minen, then continued to address the guard with a pleasant laugh. “Don’t mind her, my good sir. We’re here to have some meetings with our trading partners.”

“Is that so?” The guard’s eyes went back and forth between Minen and Geschutz. Minen’s sharp, glaring eyes met with his. The guard took a few steps to face her. His tall, bulk figure hovered above Minen, who didn’t even flinch nor feel intimidated. Sweats started to form on Geschutz’s palm as he realized the guard showed no intention to let them go, and he knew exactly that the guard was getting butt-hurt after being ‘disrespected’ by Minen.

“Mind your manners, woman. We don’t take a liking to crude women such as yourself.”

Minen’s eyebrows twitched in anger.

“Come, Minen. Apologize,” ordered Geschutz. Minen felt like exploding at any second now, but if she did, their mission might be ruined. In the end, she decided to take a deep breath and relaxed her tense muscle before muttering the word ‘sorry’ from her mouth. The guard tilted his chin and smiled as if he was just achieving victory.

“Good,” Geschutz nodded. “Now, if you’ll excuse us. We have our fellow traders waiting at the inn.”

They walked past through the guard before he could reply, but they could only get so far. He firmly grabbed Minen’s shoulder before they could go away.

“Cloaks off, you hear me!”

“HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME!”

As fast as a bolt of lightning, Minen swirled and punched the guard right on his nose so hard he bled and fell unconscious on the ground. Geschutz’s jaw dropped in shocked, while Buchse stared at the guard’s limp body, eyes wide from disbelief.

People started to pay attention at the ruckus Minen just created, and before people started to swarm them, they disappeared from the scene. The three of them hid in a dark, narrow alleyway away from the fallen guard, sandwiched between two tall buildings, protected from wandering eyes. Their shoulders went up and down like a machine along with their puffing chest. None of them made a sound until Buchse talked.

“Impressive move.”

He looked at Minen, and she laughed nervously in return.

Only Geschutz remained shut.

Minen noticed that, and she glanced at him. She has made a mistake. She has ruined their plan and Geschut’z effort to bail the three of them out from the guard. She was responsible for it. “Sorry, captain. I should’ve known better—“

“Pfft, no, no. Seriously, I would punch that guy first if you hadn’t.”

Of course, he would never do it, but he said that any way to ease Minen’s guilt. He knew Minen felt terribly guilty for what she did back there. She was a decent soldier, and he admired her – she might have a tough and bold personality, but she had the guts to admit her mistakes. After all, he could safely say that her action was justified. Right now, nonetheless, the most important thing was they managed to leave the scene unharmed.

“I hope he’ll forget our face once he wakes up,” he joked a bit. He always found a chance to lighten up the mood before pressing into a more serious issue. “Now, we need to get out of here, fast.”

The imminent problem was the cloaks – it wasn’t that they didn’t want to take it off; they _needed_ to wear it to conceal their weapons – a pair of gun on Minen and a rifle each on Buchse and Geschutz. Those weapons were unique and carefully crafted by Belfar Agency, the organization in Ritterschild they joined up and trained as gunners. It was by the knowledge gained from the Chronicle of Fierce Regalia that they were capable of creating such quick and deadly weapons. And so it was, no one, especially people of Janam, their ‘enemy’, should ever see nor find out about it.

So, the first thing they did was to find an escape route – a clear path that could guarantee their safety until they reached the town’s gate. Buchse climbed the building swiftly up to the roof and laid low. He scanned the road vigilantly. He placed himself in a secure spot and scanned the road vigilantly. Less than a minute, he got down and reported to Geschutz about possible escape routes. After some thought, he decided which paths to take and gave out each specific path for Minen and Buchse. The idea was for them to split up and meet outside of town.

"Mingle with people and stay out of trouble. If you spotted any guards, find yourself a spot where you can hide until the guards leave. No weapon allowed, either, clear?"

Minen and Buchse nodded.

"And, Buchse," Geschutz turned his head to his junior. "Mask off."

And finally, they departed to their designated ways. The sun got higher, and more people have been coming to town. For Minen and Geschutz, who were born with outgoing personalities, it was unmistakably an opportunity to cover themselves from unwanted disruption. For Buchse, though, it was torture. He felt exposed – _naked_ – without his teammates and the mask protecting his face. As a result, he got more anxious as he took each step towards his supposed freedom. He stumbled and bumped onto people on his way. If only his captain didn't order them to mingle and not cause trouble, he would run as fast as he could or jumped from building to building. But for now, he must endure.

Turned out it took less time than estimated to be able to reach the entrance. In less than 10 minutes, Minen arrived without a hassle. She was the first one to step outside town. About five minutes later, Geschutz appeared leisurely while carrying a bag of kebabs. _The nerve of him_ , thought Minen though she was grateful for the snack. Minutes went by, however, and Buchse still was not in sight.

"Should I check on him?" offered Minen. Geschutz shook his head and pointed towards the entrance.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Minen's eyes grew wide upon the chaotic scene in front of her line of sight. Some people screamed and moved aside in surprise as Buchse ran in full speed like a bullet, several angry guards hot on his tail.

"That's our boy," Geschutz chuckled at the amusing spectacle. "Get ready to make some distraction."

Minen grabbed some smoke bombs from her pouch. She waited until Buchse reached their side, and when he did, she threw them off – blinding the guards, and the three of them ran away from the chase.

They finally managed to make some distance and decided to take a light rest next to the river before continuing their walk. The calming sound of the water flow was music to Buchse compared to the loud and overwhelming noises in Salsabil.

"What the heck, Buchse? Explain!" Minen yelled at the young marksman who just finished washing his face. He just sat there, one knee on the ground, lips tightened. After he finished, he stood up and pulled his mask up.

“It’s nothing to worry about.”

"Let me guess," Geschutz rubbed his chin as he waltzed besides Buchse. "You blew it up because you were too nervous without wearing that mask, didn't you?"

The brows above Buchse's eyes furrowed in frustration. The way Geschutz said it makes it as if it was such a lame excuse for screwing up. He wanted to deny it to defend his dignity, but it would be pointless for the captain could read his teammates easily like a book. And well, he had to admit that it was indeed terribly lame.

“And you’re hurt.”

Geschutz came close to inspect the wound on Buchse’s right shoulder. The pain stung, but it was still bearable -- definitely nothing compared to being shot by guns during his training. Regardless of Geschutz’s concern, Buchse only took a slight glance at his wound and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

Minen, who just noticed that Buchse was wounded, stepped forward. “Oh, no, you dummy. Let me take a look at your wound.”

“It’s nothing serious.”

“Just let me, okay? I got us into this mess, boy. Let me take responsibility.”

Much to Buchse’s surprise, Minen turned his body around to see his back wound more clearly and forcefully pushed him to sit down.

“But, it has nothing to do with—“

“Just shut up.”

His upper right back fabric was torn and burned up, revealing a fresh red and steaming flesh. One of the guards seemed to use magic to attack him back there. Minen sighed and did her best to treat the wound. His back was exposed to her, and the entire time, she didn’t realize that Buchse’s face was flushed red. He was never used to it – Minen touching his bare skin while treating his wounds.

“...I’m not a boy,” he said quietly, trying to break the silence. A hint of childishness in his tone.

“And I’m not a princess,” Minen smirked as she finally said her piece. Buchse was silent again.

“Are you feeling better, Buchse?” asked Geschutz after Minen finished treating her partner. He wiped the corner of his mouth as he finished the last bite of his kebab. Buchse moved his right shoulder and swung his arm carefully. It definitely felt better and less painful. He turned his head to Geschutz and nodded.

“Good. Now that your wound has been taken care of, we shall continue to our destination. The guy’s probably been there waiting for us.”

"Sorry, sir..." Buchse then apologized while rubbing the back of his head. Unlike Minen, apologizing was not his thing, but it must be conveyed nonetheless.

Geschutz couldn't help but chuckle. "Disciplinary act awaits you both," he said. "But for now, let's meet this guy and get this over with."

The three of them then continued their journey. Geschutz gave Minen and Buchse their share of kebab. What a stressful day that the two of the selected fine marksmen would mess up the first time they landed the enemy’s territory. It could’ve gone worse, or better for that matter. Consequently, Geschutz decided for them not to return to Janam for the time being, therefore halting their departure to go back home. It would be nice, Geschutz thought, if the guy they were meeting had a place for them to stay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know if you enjoy seeing the trio making some trouble! XD


End file.
